The present invention relates to communicating the content of paper documents via a distributed computer system, such as the global Internet. More particularly described, the present invention supports the collection of document images at a remote data collection site and the authorized transmission of these document images to a designated data processing site via a distributed computer network.
Large truckload carriers rely upon hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of drivers to support the transportation of goods to sites located throughout the North American continent. A driver is typically assigned a shipping load and related documents and a shipper must obtain the signature of the consignee as evidence of load delivery. The transportation company can not bill the receiving party for transportation of the shipping load until the billing location of the transportation company receives the signed shipping documents. Consequently, the billing location of the transportation company requires the delivery of the signed shipping documents as quickly as possible to avoid a billing delay and a possible delay of payment collection.
The transportation industry has recognized that the billing process for transportation services can be expedited if signed shipping documents can be received from a driver as quickly as possible upon delivery completion. For example, a driver can drop off documentation at one of the transportation company""s terminals typically located throughout the country. Although the delivery of the documentation to a terminal results in the delivery of the original signed documentation to the transportation company, these terminals typically operate in diverse geographical locations that may prevent convenient or efficient access by a driver. Moreover, only selected transportation companies operate a network of terminals that can accept such documentation from drivers. Consequently, the transportation industry has searched for other methods for delivering shipping documentation by drivers to a billing location of the transportation company.
Another approach to the delivery of shipping documentation is the use of conventional mail delivery options to forward the shipping documentation from a driver to a transportation billing center. For example, transportation industry members have instructed drivers to forward shipping documents to a transportation billing center via an overnight mail delivery service. Nevertheless, this mail delivery approach requires at least a single business day to achieve the delivery of the required shipping documentation. Once delivered to the transportation billing center, the shipping documents are manually handled on an individual basis to initiate billing operations. In view of the delays associated with conventional mail delivery of shipping documentation, members of the transportation industry have searched for a more efficient document delivery system to expedite their billing operations.
Another alternative document delivery approach is the use of facsimile transmission systems that enable a driver to xe2x80x9cfaxxe2x80x9d shipping documents from an imaging center to a transportation billing center. Imaging centers are typically located at locations convenient to drivers, such as truck stops or freight terminals. Although a facsimile transmission of a shipping document can be quickly completed, the transportation industry has recognized that this document delivery mechanism suffers from quality control problems. Faxed documents can arrive at a transportation billing center in poor or illegible condition in the absence of quality control measures. Moreover, faxed documents must be manually handled on an individual basis because they arrive at the billing center without any index data that links the shipping document facsimile with certain shipment particulars required for the billing process.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need within the transportation industry for a document delivery system that supports the efficient and proper delivery of accurate document information from drivers to designated transportation billing centers. There is a further need for a document delivery system that would enable a transportation company to initiate the billing process immediately upon receipt of the shipping document information to minimize the account receivable period. There is a further need in the transportation industry for a document delivery system that allows drivers to efficiently transmit document information and related shipment index data to a transportation billing center to support an expedited billing process. The present invention addresses these and other needs of the prior art by allowing drivers to scan shipping documents, to obtain related index information, and to transmit the combination of document images and index information from a data collection site to the appropriate data processing site via a distributed computer network.
The present invention is directed to a data communication system for communicating collected information between multiple data collection systems and one or more data processing systems via a distributed computer network, such as the global Internet or a frame network. A central control system, connected to the distributed computer network, can authorize the transmission of collected information from a data collection system to a designated data processing system. The central control system can assign the designated data processing system to receive the collected information based upon an identifying characteristic for the source of information collected by the data collection system. The collected information typically comprises one or more images of documentation, which can be generated in response to scanning the document based upon the color of that document. The collected information transmitted by the data collection system can be supplemented with additional information to support subsequent processing operations, including indexing data related to document images generated at the data collection system.
Prior to initiating a communication of collected information, data source information can be input at a data collection system to support a verification task. This information typically identifies the identity and affiliation of the data source. The data source information can be transmitted via the distributed computer network to the central control system. Upon receipt, an inquiry can be conducted at the central control system to determine whether the data source is authorized to communicate with a particular data processing system. If so, the central control system transmits an authorization message, typically comprising the address of the designated data processing system and index information, to the data collection system. Based on this authorization, an end user is prompted at the data collection system to input requested information, such as document information. For example, the end user can input a document into the data collection system by the use of a conventional scanner. To ensure a high quality document image, the scanner parameters are automatically set prior to document image generation based upon the color of the document to be scanned. In turn, the data collection system can transmit the document information and index information to the designated data processing system via the distributed computer network.
For one aspect of the present invention, the data communication system can support the collection and delivery of documentation used by the transportation industry to document the delivery of a shipment and to support invoicing of the recipient of that shipment. For this transportation industry application, a data collection system can be housed within a kiosk installation and located in numerous truck stops and transportation terminals throughout a selected geographical area. Upon completion of a shipment delivery, a driver can complete the necessary shipping documentation that serves as evidence of the shipment delivery and thereafter travel to a convenient location to input the documentation into a kiosk-housed data collection system. To support the input of documentation, the data collection system typically comprises a computer having a network connection, a display device, an input device, and a scanning device or scanner for generating a document image. The driver can use the scanning device to create one or more document images for the shipping documentation. Although this scanning device is typically implemented by an optical image scanner, the scanning function also can be supported by other types of input devices, including bar code scanners, RF tag scanners, and digital cameras. Based on the identity of a data processing system provided by a central control system, the data collection system can transmit each document image to the identified data processing system. This data processing system, which typically represents a billing center for a transport carrier, can process each document image and any related information to support billing operations.
The driver can use a magnetic card, such as a xe2x80x9csmartxe2x80x9d card, encoded with data source information, typically the identity of the driver and the driver""s company, to initiate an authorization task at the data collection system. The data collection system transmits the encoded information defining the data source to the central control system and, if the driver is authorized, the central control system can respond by sending an authorization message to the data collection system. This authorization message typically comprises the identity of a designated data processing system for receiving information collected by the data collection system and index information that provides one or more indexes for the collected information.
In response to a prompt presented by the display device, the driver can use the scanner to generate one or more document images of the shipping documentation. The data collection system can transmit these document images, accompanied by index information supplied by the central control system, to the designated data processing system via the distributed computer network. Consequently, the present invention allows a driver to use a data collection system located at a convenient location, such as a truck stop, to scan and index shipping documentation and to transmit an indexed document image to a designated transportation billing center, thereby expediting the billing process for the shipment delivery.
More particularly described, this transportation industry aspect of the present invention supports the efficient and accurate delivery of document images and related indexes from a data collection system to a designated transportation billing center. Advantageously, the data collection systems can be housed within kiosks located within truck stops that are conveniently located along transportation routes to enable a driver to easily reach a data collection site on the same day that a shipment delivery is completed by the driver. A driver can input driver-related information at a data collection system, typically by swiping a xe2x80x9csmartxe2x80x9d card having encoded driver information at a kiosk housing the data collection system. In the event that the driver desires to transmit documentation to a transportation carrier, the driver can select a document delivery application from a menu displayed by a touch screen display of the data collection system. In response to the selection of the document delivery application, the encoded driver information is passed to this application for forwarding to a central control system.
The document delivery application, operating at the data collection system, communicates with a central database server of the central control system to determine whether the driver is authorized to send document information to a transportation billing center. In the event that the driver information matches a record maintained by the central database server, the central control system transmits an authorization message to the data collection system via the distributed computer network. This authorization message typically comprises the address for a particular transportation billing center logically associated with the driver and index information.
In response to the authorization message, the data collection system can present a display screen that prompts the driver to input certain document-related information, such as a PRO number and document type. Upon completion of data entry by the driver, the data collection system can present a display screen prompting the driver to input a document by using a scanner to create a document image. Because the creation of an accurate document image by a scanner is sensitive to the color of the document, this display screen prompts the driver to select a control labeled with the color of the document to be scanned prior to enabling scanner operation. This selection of a control associated with the color of the document to be scanned determines the scanner parameters for use during the scanning operation. A document image is created by scanning the document in response to selecting this control on the touch screen display. This image can be presented to the driver for acceptance or rescanning prior to delivery of the document image to the designated transportation billing center. Additional documents can be scanned in a similar fashion prior to a transmission of one or more document images to the designated transportation billing center. Upon completion of scanning operations, the data collection system can print a receipt for the driver to confirm the data collection task.
The document image created by the scanning operation at the data collection system represents an accurate image that exceeds the quality associated with a typical facsimile transmission because the scanner parameters are determined by the driver""s selection of a control associated with the document color. Moreover, the driver has the ability to perform a visual inspection of the document image prior to accepting that document image for transmission to the designated transportation billing center. In the event that the driver determines that the document image is not satisfactory, the scanner parameters can be readjusted by the driver and the document can be scanned again for review by the driver.
The data collection system can use information received from the central control system to prepare a message for forwarding one or more document images to the designated transportation billing center. In particular, the document delivery application can combine the document image(s) with index information to form a message for delivery to the address provided by the central control system. The data collection system can transmit this document message via a distributed computer network to the transportation billing center having that address. In this manner, the data collection system can automatically route the document images to a selected data processing site based upon address information provided by the central control system. This address information is typically obtained by searching a database at the central control system based upon the identity of the driver or the identity of the driver""s company. This enables the proper routing of the document images to the correct recipient via the distributed computer network. Moreover, this search of the central database also can result in the retrieval of index information that can be provided to the data collection system to support the indexing of the document images.
A message queue typically receives the document message at the designated transportation billing center. The message queue passes the data message to an extraction system for routing of the indexed document images to an electronic document management system. These indexed document images facilitate billing operations conducted by the transportation billing center.
In summary, the present invention advantageously provides a data communications system for collecting and delivering indexed images of documentation required by the transportation industry to support billing operations. That the present invention improves over the drawbacks of the prior art and accomplishes the objects of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments to follow and the appended drawings and claims.